The disclosure relates to a cutting mechanism for a printing apparatus that cuts a printing medium including an adhesive layer, and a printing apparatus that includes the cutting mechanism.
Various types of tape printing apparatuses are known that detachably accommodate a roll sheet holder in a case. The roll sheet holder is wound with a long roll sheet. In a tape printing apparatus of this type, the roll sheet wound on the roll sheet holder is drawn and fed by the drive of a platen roller, and characters, figures, and the like are printed on the roll sheet by a thermal head that is pressed against the platen roller. The printed roll sheet is cut to a desired length by a cutting mechanism and is discharged to the outside through a sheet discharge port.
As a cutting mechanism, a so-called guillotine cutter is known. A guillotine cutter includes a fixed blade that is provided throughout the entire width on one face side of a roll sheet, and a movable blade that moves in the thickness direction of the roll sheet while sliding with respect to the fixed blade. The roll sheet to be cut by the guillotine cutter has, for example, a separable paper separably bonded on the back face of the sheet with an adhesive interposed therebetween. When such a roll sheet is cut by a guillotine cutter, the adhesive may adhere to the movable blade. In such a case, a problem may arise that the cut sheet is pulled by the adhesive that has adhered to the movable blade and, during the cutting of the subsequent sheet, a portion of the previously cut sheet is cut again.
Therefore, for example, a cutter unit is known that includes a fixed blade and a movable blade each having a groove for receiving an adhesive. Each groove is formed substantially parallel to the cutting edge and throughout the width direction. According to the cutter unit, when the fixed blade and the movable blade slide with respect to each other, the adhesive that has adhered to the fixed blade and the movable blade is dropped into the grooves formed in the fixed blade and the movable blade. Thus, poor cutting due to the adhesion of the adhesive to the blades may be prevented.